Thursday, October 16, 2014

Even though there are a whole slew of elections coming up, for Milwaukee County, the real silly

season is dealing with Boss Abele's budget. Not only did Abele present his budget a week late, but it is rife with unconscionable and some illegal actions. I'm not saying this budget is bad, but it is surprising that it wasn't written in crayon when he finally did present it to the county board.

One of the actions that Abele did was slash the funding for homeless shelters in Milwaukee County. Apparently, Abele forgot about how horrible last winter was with the polar vortexes and dangerously cold temperatures.

To show the importance of this funding, Supervisor Peggy Romo West shared this message from Joe Volk of the Wisconsin Advocacy Project:

"Even though we in Milwaukee suffered through one of worst winters in history last year there were no reports of the homeless freezing to death thanks in part to the extra funding provided by the County Board to support homeless shelters in Milwaukee County. This is something we should all be proud of. This is serious business and should not be used as just another attempt of the administration to mislead the legislative branch of County Government."

Another unbelievable stunt by Boss Abele was the gutting of the Indigent Burial Program, which offers financial assistance to poor families who cannot afford to bury their loved ones. This program helps hundreds of families each and every year.

Abele shifted some of this money to the Medical Examiner's Office to aid with the disposal of unclaimed bodies, stating an expectation of an increased need for this.

So, in summary, Abele severely slashes the money for homeless shelters, knowing that this could put the lives of the homeless in danger if we have another severe winter. But it's OK, because he took money that other poor people need to pay for disposing any bodies of the homeless that might die from exposure to the elements.

All in the name of being "fiscally conservative." Yeah, just like his good buddy, Scott Walker, claims to be fiscally conservative. I guess when you're hanging with plutocrats and oligarchs, one might loose all sense of perspective and decency. After all, they're only poor people, right?

The county board needs to restore these cuts and correct Abele's indefensible attacks on the poor.